New York Comic Con: A Preview

New York is a city that loves its characters, but even here you usually don’t find Captain Kirk, Captain Picard, Rocky Balboa, Agents Mulder and Scully, Ellen Ripley and Sheriff Rick in the same place at the same time.

Enter New York Comic Con, where this weekend the actors known for those iconic characters will join an estimated 130,000 of their closest friends. Starting this afternoon at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, fans will gather to meet and hear from their favorite performers; buy all manner of books, toys, video games and collectibles; and hear what new projects are on the horizon in science fiction, fantasy, horror and comics.

The event is the second-biggest pop culture event in the country, after San Diego’s Comic-Con International. “I think we’ve got an excellent show for people,” said Lance Fensterman, New York Comic Con’s manager, as he rushed around making final preparations. “It’s a million moving pieces. You’re trying to herd a lot of cats.”

Tickets are sold out. Fensterman said the convention to be even more popular than last year’s event, which drew 116,000 people.

Heading New York Comic Con’s guest list: William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Sylvester Stallone, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, Sigourney Weaver, the cast of TV’s “The Walking Dead” and hundreds of other performers, artists and writers. They’ll be joined by more than 700 exhibitors from all sectors of the entertainment and publishing worlds.